Featured writer: Audrey Johnson

My boyfriend, “Joaquin” and I made a trip to the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii with some of his buddies about this time last year to celebrate his 25th birthday.  Joaquin was born there but moved away before he was old enough to remember so I thought it fitting that he return to his roots a quarter of a century later  We had many grand adventures that I will regale you with some other time.  For now, I wanted to share a memory that always makes me laugh…

Joaquin and our buddy “Juan” spent time learning how to surf and skim board while we were in Hawaii.  Skim boarding involves taking a flat, round or oval,  wooden board and pushing it so it skims across the water on a shallow, sandy beach, then jumping on the board to ride out the wave.  The guys were really good at it, but there were a lot of falls involved.  Joaquin ended up engaging an old wrist injury in his left hand.  He had to wear a wrist brace for the rest of the trip and that was the end of skim boarding for him.

With Joaquin out of commission for some water sports and needing to let his wrist heal, the next day we decided to go check out Maunawili Falls, a beautiful waterfall only accessible by a 1.5 mile trail through the jungle.  We never made it to the falls.  On our hike, Joaquin discovered a dried out bamboo stick that snapped in his right hand after he swung it around like a sword.  The result was a laceration on his thumb that needed stitches, but he refused to go to the ER.  Thankfully Joaquin’s mom is a nurse so she gave us step-by-step instructions on how to tape his thumb back together with surgical tape – and it worked!

Our last day on Oahu was a chance for just Joaquin and I to spend together.  We went up to the North Shore to watch the surfers on the Bonzai Pipeline, indulged in the best shave ice on the island, picked up fresh fruit from a local produce stand, and feasted at one of the shrimp trucks.  The little town of Haleiwa captured my heart and I dream of moving there now.  We wandered through one of the local surf shops looking at fun t-shirts and I chatted with the shop owner.  She asked where we had come from and we made small talk.  That is, until she noticed that Joaquin’s left hand was in a wrist brace and his right hand was bound with a thumb splint and bandages.  Under her breath she leaned over and asked me, “How does he wipe?”

Read more from this writer at: Dangerously Daydreaming